World Soccer

LONDON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Cristiano Ronaldo has been named World Soccer magazine's player of the year for the second time, ahead of Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Franck Ribery of Bayern Munich, it said on Thursday. The award, decided by a panel of journalists and pundits from round the world, recognised his stunning form for Real Madrid as well as his role in leading Portugal to the World Cup finals in Brazil next year. He last won it in 2008. Jupp Heynckes and...

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Dreadful defending cost Brazil dear yet again on Saturday as the World Cup hosts slumped to a 3-0 loss to the Netherlands in a playoff for third place, underlining just how far the 'Selecao' have fallen down world soccer's pecking order. Four days after a humiliating 7-1 semi-final loss to Germany that shocked the world and left home fans stunned and angry, the hosts' porous defense shipped three more shoddy goals in Brasilia, taking their tally for...

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - FIFA will stick with plans to hold World Cup soccer matches in the Brazilian city of Curitiba, a source in the state government of Parana said on Tuesday on condition of anonymity, shortly ahead of a press conference on the decision. FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke has said world soccer's governing body would announce on Tuesday whether work on a stadium in Curitiba was too delayed to host the four World Cup matches scheduled...

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - A linesman who ruled out two goals for Mexico in their opening World Cup match against Cameroon has been taken off the refereeing team for an upcoming game, world soccer's governing body FIFA said on Friday. Colombian assistant referee Humberto Clavijo controversially disallowed two first-half 'goals' for Mexico for offside in a game they eventually won 1-0. A FIFA spokeswoman said the decision to replace Clavijo for Sunday's Group H match between...

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - FIFA will stick with plans to hold World Cup soccer matches in the Brazilian city of Curitiba, the secretary general of world soccer's governing body said on Twitter, shortly ahead of a press conference on the decision. FIFA's Jerome Valcke has said he would announce on Tuesday whether work on a stadium in Curitiba was too delayed to host the four World Cup matches scheduled there. (Reporting by Brad Haynes; Editing by Ken Ferris)

By Ossian Shine RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Some 200 Chilean soccer fans stormed the Maracana media centre around an hour before kick-off in the World Cup match against Spain on Wednesday, raising major concerns for FIFA and tournament organisers. The fans charged through a security checkpoint before smashing down a glass door, witnesses said, and invading the working room. They ran around the journalists' workplace looking for access to the stadium, before police were called.

Dec 16 (Reuters) - Croatia defender Josip Simunic will miss the 2014 World Cup in Brazil after being suspended for 10 matches by FIFA for making pro-Nazi chants at the end of last month's playoff victory over Iceland. "After taking into account all of the circumstances of the case, and particularly given the gravity of the incident, the committee decided to suspend the player for 10 official matches," world soccer's ruling body said in a statement on Monday....

By Mike Collett and Mark Gleeson SAO PAULO (Reuters) - The head of world soccer, Sepp Blatter, faced calls on Tuesday to hand over the reins of an organisation mired in allegations of corruption, but he also secured the backing of regional FIFA delegates gathered in Brazil ahead of the World Cup. Michael van Praag, president of the Dutch Football Association (KNVB), conveyed one of the bluntest messages yet to the 78-year-old FIFA president, who is widely expected...

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - A linesman who ruled out two goals for Mexico in their opening World Cup match against Cameroon has been taken off the refereeing team for an upcoming game, world soccer's governing body FIFA said on Friday. Colombian assistant referee Humberto Clavijo controversially disallowed two first-half 'goals' for Mexico for offside in a game they eventually won 1-0. A FIFA spokeswoman said the decision to replace Clavijo for Sunday's Group H match between...

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - The Oceania Football Confederation will wait until after world governing body FIFA has completed its investigation into how Qatar won the 2022 World Cup rights before it makes any comment on whether their organisation has been caught up in the scandal. World soccer has been thrown into turmoil in the last week after a British newspaper reported that it had evidence that around $5 million was paid to officials in return for votes for Qatar's...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Two Russian politicians are demanding the United States be kicked out of this year's World Cup and has its membership of world soccer's governing body FIFA terminated. The petition to FIFA was made by Aleksandr Sidyakin and Mikhail Markelov, deputies from the Russian State Duma, which is the country's lower parliament house. The politicians cite aggressive actions against Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya as well as attempts to encroach on Syria, as...

SAO PAULO/BRASILIA (Reuters) - The script was simple enough: host the soccer World Cup, win it for a record sixth time and ride a wave of national euphoria to another four years in power. Yet Brazil's ruling Workers' Party may find it's not that easy. Recent history shows little correlation between being crowned world soccer champions and winning elections, despite endless speculation to the contrary among Brazilians of all political stripes. At best, President...

BUENOS AIRES, July 4 (Reuters) - FIFA wants the centenary World Cup in 2030 to be jointly staged by Uruguay and Argentina, who met in the final of the inaugural tournament, Argentine FA (AFA) president Julio Grondona said on Thursday. In 1930, Uruguay, then the double Olympic champions, beat Argentina 4-2 in the showpiece match at the Centenario stadium in Montevideo in front of a crowd of more than 80,000. "FIFA wishes to celebrate the World Cup's 100 years in...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. senator said on Wednesday that world soccer's governing body FIFA was wrong when it refused to kick Russia out of this year's World Cup and bar it from hosting the tournament in 2018 over its occupation of Crimea. "FIFA suggests that outrageous misbehavior by member states does not matter because such decisions are irrelevant to soccer," U.S. Senator Dan Coats said. In a letter to Coats and another Republican senator, Mark Kirk,...

SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) - Soccer has a difficult task to match the popularity of baseball in the Dominican Republic, according to FIFA president Sepp Blatter. "We know there is another sport (baseball) in this country that is more important than football and this is a challenge for football," the head of world soccer's ruling body said on Monday during an official visit to Santo Domingo. Blatter, on a week-long tour of the Caribbean and Central America, added: "One day, I...

(Reuters) - With Brazil frantically trying to finish off stadiums in time for the June 12 World Cup kickoff, one of the official songs for the tournament is aptly called "Dar um Jeito (We Will Find A Way). FIFA said the anthem, one of four official songs, will be performed by guitar great Santana, Haitian-American rapper Wyclef Jean, Swedish DJ Avicii and Brazilian Latin Grammy winner Alexandre Pires at the closing ceremony in Rio de Janeiro on July 13. Other tracks...

(Reuters) - With Brazil frantically trying to finish off stadiums in time for the June 12 World Cup kickoff, one of the official songs for the tournament is aptly called "Dar um Jeito (We Will Find A Way). FIFA said the anthem, one of four official songs, will be performed by guitar great Santana, Haitian-American rapper Wyclef Jean, Swedish DJ Avicii and Brazilian Latin Grammy winner Alexandre Pires at the closing ceremony in Rio de Janeiro on July 13. Other tracks...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Two Russian politicians are demanding the United States be kicked out of this year's World Cup and has its membership of world soccer's governing body FIFA terminated. The petition to FIFA was made by Aleksandr Sidyakin and Mikhail Markelov, deputies from the Russian State Duma, which is the country's lower parliament house. The politicians cite aggressive actions against Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya as well as attempts to encroach on Syria, as...